A Thousand Words
by live2rite
Summary: People say a picture is worth a thousand words. Season Two Finale fic. Castle/Beckett
1. Chapter 1

A.N. So I know there's about a thousand stories based on the season two finale but I just couldn't help myself and after my muse had abandoned me just after my birthday I decided I was gonna write this. So please forgive me if it's rubbish. Also my friend who usually reads stuff and tells me if a story is absolute bol***ks can't check this at the moment so it's all my fault if it's that bad lol

From Rite Rose Publishing.

A Thousand Words

Kate sighed as the elevator doors closed, cutting Castle and Gina from view. She looked down at the barely touched bottle of beer in her hand before taking a long swig and walking over to her desk. She set the now half empty bottle down on the table and picked up her jacket. There was no way she was working tonight. She was starting to walk towards the elevator when she heard the door open where Lanie and the guys were and felt Lanie step beside her, walking with her. There was silence as they reached the elevator and she hit the button. When they stepped inside and the doors closed, Lanie took a few seconds before speaking.

"You ok?" she asked, quietly.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Kate questioned, glancing up at the floor number and wondering just how slow the elevator was. Ignoring Kate's response, Lanie shifted tactics.

"You want company tonight? I have a bottle of blue label Smirnoff ..." she trailed off with a side glance at Kate. Kate was tempted by that. Blue labelled Smirnoff was good for one thing ... getting drunk fast. And there was nothing more she wanted right now than to be out of her head so she didn't have to think but she really didn't want company at the minute and if Lanie came to hers tonight they would end up talking which would lead to her confessing how she really feels about Castle. That really wasn't on the cards.

"No thanks Lanie, I'm just gonna head home and have a soak in the bath," she tried to smile.

"Well if you change your mind ..." Lanie trailed off again as the doors opened and Kate practically jogged out of the building, slowing down long enough to throw Lanie a "Will do, bye!"

Kate didn't slow down until she reached her car. She fumbled with her keys, desperately trying to keep herself together long enough to open the door and when she finally did, she sank gratefully into the driver's seat before begrudgingly admitting to herself that she did need a new car. She cursed aloud. Why did Castle always have to be right? She leant her head back and closed her eyes, taking a calming breath.

"Just get home," she whispered to herself before opening her eyes and starting the engine.

It was then she remembered that she had nowhere to go. After her apartment had been blown up she had been staying with Castle and she had been trying to find an apartment but over the past few weeks she had been staying at Deming's, and she had just broken up with him. She sighed again, she had no choice, she would have to go to Castle's. As she finally pulled out of the precinct's car park, she prayed that Castle had already left and hadn't forgotten something.

Walking from the elevator in Castle's building to his front door seemed like it took forever. She glanced nervously up and down the corridor before using the key that Castle had given to her the morning after she had stayed here the first night. He had proudly dangled the key on a ribbon in front of her face as she had been sat at her desk and tried to 'hypnotise' her with it until she had grabbed it out of his hand and told him to sit down. She opened the door and let out the breath she hadn't realised she had been holding when she saw all the lights were off, before shutting and locking the door behind her. She pulled her jacket off and quickly hung it up before heading over to the freezer and the bottle of vodka she knew was in there. She grabbed the bottle and a glass and poured herself a generous measure before grabbing a can of coke out of the fridge and adding some. The drink looked more like dirty water than the dark brown that Vodka and coke usually had and the burning sensation it had to her first mouthful told her just how much vodka there was in the ratio but she didn't care as she down the whole glass and poured another measure and emptied the rest of the can of coke into the glass and headed upstairs to the guest room and bathroom. That soak sounded like a good idea.

It was a combination of the fast intake of alcohol and the warm bath that finally calmed her down. An hour later she emerged from the bath feeling much better and ready for her next drink. Picking up her empty glass, she started to walk towards the stairs when she paused outside Castle's bedroom door. She had never been in there before and had avoided thinking about what his room would look like until now. The curiosity got the better of her as she gently pushed the door open and stepped inside. This was not what she had expected. She had thought his room would either be like a five year olds, full of toys and mad colours or even transformers bedding or something or it that it would be the very definition of a playboy/bachelor room but what she found instead made her smile. He had a large bed in the centre of the room that was made from black wood with a large headboard. The walls were a pale neutral colour and he had a desk in the same dark colour wood as the bed. He had a walk in wardrobe to the left and an open glass door to the right which she assumed led to his personal en suite.

She glanced at his desk and saw a few picture frames neatly lined up. She walked towards them intrigued. The first picture was one of Castle and everyone at the 12th, including her and Lanie. They were all smiling happily at the person taking the picture and she remembered that this had been just shortly after Heat Wave had come out. She turned her attention to the next picture and grinned. This one was of Castle and Alexis. Alexis was being tickled mercilessly by Castle and the person who had taken this picture had caught the moment perfectly. She stared at this one for a few minutes; she loved watching Castle interact with Alexis. It always fascinated her how their roles often seemed to be reversed. Moving onto the next picture she saw a much younger Martha holding a little boy who was grinning cheekily. That _had_ to be Castle when he was little. She would know that smile anywhere. She chuckled to herself before moving onto the next picture and her chuckles stopped instantly. This was a picture of her and Castle. She was laughing at something and had reached out a hand to support herself on Castle's arm and he was looking at her with something she couldn't quite name. It wasn't anything like she had ever seen him direct towards her before. Did he always look at her like that when she wasn't watching? She looked away, confused by this and decided she had intruded enough into his personal space so she went to leave however as she did she noticed there was another picture on his bedside table. She hesitated but curiosity finally got the better of her and she walked over to get a better look. The large frame that was sat there had a picture of Alexis in it. She must have been about ten years old and she was giggling in a professionally taken photo. Kate's eyes were drawn to the picture next to this; it was not framed but was resting on the frame of Alexis' picture. This was the smallest picture so far and by the quality, it looked like it had been taken by a cell phone. The picture was of her as she was sat at her desk in the precinct. She was sat at her computer, one hand rested on the keyboard whilst the other was cupped to her jaw as the elbow rested on the desk. She was looking into the distance, clearly daydreaming with a small smile on her face. She could tell from the angle of the picture that this had been taken from someone sitting in Castle's chair so it was probably him who had taken it. She frowned slightly. When had she become comfortable enough with Castle sitting there to daydream? And why did he print this picture off and put it on his bed side table. She sat down on the edge of Castle's bed and with shaking fingers she picked up the picture.

If he liked her enough to put a picture of her next to his daughters, why had he left with Gina? It was then she realised there were no pictures of Gina or Meredith anywhere in his room. Not even one of him, Meredith and Alexis. If pictures were worth a thousand words then the fact that she was in three of these pictures said a lot to her. She stared back down at the small picture of herself and hesitantly replaced it next to the picture of Alexis. She wanted to tell Castle how she felt and she knew she probably would have if she had been anyone else but Kate Beckett was not the kind of woman to chase after a man. If he wanted Gina right now, for whatever reason, then that was that. She may have deep feelings for Castle but she wasn't about to profess her undying love for someone who couldn't wait for her. If he had gone to the Hampton's alone then that would have been different but no ... he had gone with Gina. She stood suddenly and walked quickly from the room.

Maybe in the fall ...

A.N. So I think I'm gonna leave it there ... please review! Thanks, Nicki


	2. Chapter 2

A.N. Ok I had had originally intended this to be a one shot but I had some great reviews who requested it to be more, so here it is :) enjoy!

Chapter Two

The next day, Kate woke up late. She cracked her eye open to look at the clock before snapping it shut and groaning. It was all very well and good drinking herself into oblivion last night to try and forget what she had seen in Castle's room but she was paying for it now. She rolled over and threw an arm over her head to mute the light. Today she was going to have to finally find an apartment, at least she wouldn't have Castle vetoing every single apartment she had been able to find in her price range. He had been worse than usual, ruling places out for things like bad decor or crappy views. She had tried to tell him decor can be changed and what do views matter to a woman who doesn't spend a lot of time at home but when she does she's usually reading and therefore wouldn't care less if the view was a solid brick wall (which it actually was at one of the places). She sat up with her eyes still closed before she cautiously reopened one eye and winced at the sudden bright light but she stubbornly kept her eye opened and slowly opened her other eye as well. Her head was throbbing, she knew that it would eventually stop but she hated the morning after headaches. She stared at the wall facing her bed. It had a large picture of the New York skyline hung there and she smiled at his choice.

Lowering her gaze she reached over the side of the bed to where her laptop bag lay and yawned as she lifted the computer from its bag. She would restart her search right now. As she waited for her laptop to come to life she turned her head to the little clock on the bedside table and frowned. Midday? It had been a long time since she had slept this late. She yawned again and realised just how thirsty she was so she picked up the laptop and headed downstairs to get a glass of water. As she stepped into Castle's kitchen she grimaced as she noticed the considerably less full vodka bottle still out on the side and quickly replaced the bottle into the freezer before opening the fridge to grab one of the many bottles of water that were in there. She set her laptop on the breakfast bar and hopped onto the stool before twisting the cap off the water and taking a few long gulps. Feeling infinitely better she noticed that her laptop was ready and opened a browser page as she had another mouthful of water. She was just typing in the search bar when she heard the sound of a lock turning behind her. She spun around just in time to see the front door open and Castle walk in, his head down and he was grumbling to himself. She stayed where she was, frozen to the stool when Castle looked up and stopped suddenly when he noticed Kate.

"Beckett!" he exclaimed, "What are you doing here?" he asked confused. It took her a few minutes to kick start her brain but when she finally did, she spoke quickly.

"I needed a place to stay and I still haven't found a place of my own yet so I figured since you said 'mi casa, su casa' that you meant it and I did still have your key, I didn't think you'd mind, I'll just ..." she rambled.

"No it's ok, I did say that and I meant it, I just figured you'd be staying with ... Demming still," he replied, almost growling out Tom's name before he looked back at Kate, "And it's your key and you know you can use it whenever you want." He reached behind him to pull in his suitcase on wheels and shut the door before walking over to the kitchen and opening the fridge for a bottle of water for himself as well. When she saw his suitcase, she raised an eyebrow in surprise but she waited until he had sat down next to her before she commented.

"So no Hampton's this summer?" she asked, curiously, ignoring the implied question as to why she was there.

"Nope," he replied casually, "Got all the way there and then I remembered just why I divorced her, I just hate that I wasted a day of writing. I finally feel like I can write again." He smiled at Kate who smiled back. "So, not that it's not brilliant to find you here but why are you here?" he asked. Kate sighed internally, so much for avoiding the question.

"Tom and I broke up so I needed somewhere to sleep and since _someone _I know made my apartment search impossible I came here," she explained, leaving out as much detail as she could. She knew there was no point in keeping the truth about her and Tom from him, he'd find out on his own when he came back to the precinct anyway. He had almost smiled when she had told him they had broken up, she had caught the slight upturn of the mouth before he had got himself under control.

"Well they were all horrible places!" he exclaimed, trying to defend himself.

"They were all in my price range," she shot back.

"Oh come on, that one place had a view of a brick wall, another had a combined bathroom and kitchen ... _bathroom and kitchen_!" he repeated.

"Not everyone has your budget, Castle!" she told him quickly.

"You always say that," he smiled.

"Yeah, well it's true so it's worth repeating," she muttered before turning her attention to her laptop.

"How about I use some of my _huge_ budget," he smirked and she rolled her eyes, "to have someone look for places for you so you don't have to?" he asked. She shot a quick look at him, he seemed sincere enough but this was something she could do, she didn't need anyone else to do it for her.

"No thanks Castle, I'm a big girl, I can do this myself," she muttered.

"I know you _can _but why should you when there's someone out there that owes me several favours and can probably find you a place faster since it's his job." The headache that had been getting better spiked a little at their mini argument. She groaned and leaned forward to place her head in her hands.

"Fine!" she exclaimed. "I'm going back to bed." She snapped the laptop shut and had one foot on the first step before she heard Castle reply.

"Back to bed? You have a late night Detective? Please do tell ..." he said, his smirk evident in his tone. Her only response was to throw her empty water bottle in his direction as she continued to ascend the stairs.

A.N. I haven't pre written this like I try to these days to avoid readers waiting for updates cos I hadn't intended it to be more than a one shot, so I'm afraid there probably will be delays but I'll work as fast as I can :) anyways please review, thanks. Nicki.


	3. Chapter 3

A.N. Sorry about the delay, but in my defence I did say there would probably be lol.

Chapter Three

It was only about an hour later that Kate finally got out of bed and headed to the shower. She was still tired and probably could have slept some more but the idea that Castle was home wouldn't allow her to relax enough to drift off. She dressed casually in her favourite jeans and t-shirt before descending the stairs again. She could hear the _tap tap tap _of a keyboard coming from Castle's office and could just about see him through the gaps in the two sided bookcases that separated the lounge from the inner sanctum. She quietly made her way to stand in the doorway, leaning against the side of the bookcase and allowed herself to simply watch him as he worked. He was leaning back in his chair with his feet up on the desk and his laptop on his lap as he was typing away so fast his fingers looked almost like a blur. He had an intense look of concentration as he paused in his typing and glanced at the 'murder board' to his right, away from where Kate was standing. After a few seconds of reading this board he returned to his typing, this time with a small grin on his face. After a few more seconds he paused again and pointed at a certain point on his screen, clearly reading what he had just written and then started typing again.

Kate was fascinated. She had been in his office before and she had even lived with him in this apartment for about a month before she had started seeing Tom but she had never seen him work before. She had never seen him so completely focused before. When they were working on cases, there was always an element of distraction about him, even when he was completely serious but right now she knew this was the Richard Castle that wrote the stories she had clung to when her Mom had died, this was the Richard Castle she had always imagined. She smiled to herself when she realised that the Richard Castle she had always imagined was just a part of the Richard Castle she had fallen for. He was an amazing author, talented investigator, devoted Father, loving son, loyal friend and yes, a nine year old on a sugar rush. Despite what she had once told Captain Montgomery, however, she knew he was completely capable of taking things seriously. Humour was just his way of not letting the bad things get too close. She paused as she thought about that. Humour was also his way of keeping the good things at bay too. He paused again, this time leaning further back and allowing his head to hit the back of the chair. He closed his eyes and sat quite still for a few moments until Kate finally decided to make her presence known.

"You could actually be mistaken for a serious writer if people saw you like this," she smiled softly and then grinned as he quickly sat up, taking his feet off the table and replacing them with his laptop, as if he was a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"Kate!" he exclaimed, "How long have you been stood there?" he asked, a little self-consciously.

"Long enough," she replied, pushing herself off the bookcase and walking into the office to sit in one of his comfy chairs. "You're writing again," she noted casually. Castle grinned at this and looked from his laptop to Kate.

"Yeah, what can I say? Nikki needs me," he smirked, waggling his eyebrows at Kate who rolled her eyes. There was a comfortable silence as Castle started writing again and Kate picked a book off his shelves and started to read. After a few minutes Kate looked back at Rick and knew she had to ask.

"So what happened with Gina?" she asked nonchalantly as she flipped a page, keeping Castle's reaction in her peripheral vision. He glanced in her direction, a look of surprise briefly flitting over his face before he turned back to his laptop.

"Same old Gina plus same old me equals same old problems," he shrugged.

There was another pause, whilst Kate figured out what to say next.

"You coming back to the precinct?" she asked, trying to sound as casual as before.

"Absolutely!" he grinned, "Well, maybe a few weeks off just to finish this book and make a decent start on the next one or Gina really will demand the return of my release," he scowled at this, "She can really hold a grudge." Kate wisely didn't mention that in order to have earned the release he did need to finish the books at least this century. Instead, she nodded and smiled at him.

"Well I know Ryan and Esposito will be happy to hear that," she laughed slightly at the thought of the two detectives.

"Speaking of the precinct, I put an order in for a coffee machine for Lanie last night, it should be delivered on Monday," he winked at Kate, "Oh and I spoke to my guy about finding you an apartment; he said he'll look into it and get back to me in a few days."

"Great, thanks Castle," she said, smiling sincerely, "And I'm sure Lanie will love the coffee machine, she's been hinting about one for long enough."

"Not my fault everyone loves good coffee!" Castle said, holding his hands up as if in defence. After Kate rolled her eyes and went back to reading her book, Castle returned to writing and several minutes passed before Castle spoke again, "It's nice having you here Kate," he admitted quietly. Kate looked up quickly and after a split second she replied.

"It's nice being here." If possible Castle's grin grew wider and Kate ducked her head down and studiously kept up the appearance of reading. She flipped a page over, having read none of the words and thought about Castle's admission as her eyes skimmed words she wasn't actually reading. She liked being around Castle and not just because he made her job easier and more fun. She like being around him because he wouldn't let her get away with anything, he was as sharp, if not sharper than she was so conversations were always stimulating and he made her laugh which, she admitted somewhat bitterly to herself, was something that wasn't very easy to do. Her self-reflection was brought abruptly to an end when Castle's phone started ringing. He grinned as he checked who was calling and answered quickly.

"Hey Alexis, you miss your old man already?" he joked and then grin faded as he listened to what she was saying, "Whoa, honey, Gina isn't at the Hamptons with me ... well I mean she was but we both decided to leave, I'm back at home now!" he defended himself. "Well because it was better than being up at the Hamptons on my own ..." he continued. Kate stood up and motioned towards the kitchen, she wanted to give him some time to talk to his daughter. Rick frowned when she started to move, "No, stay!" he blurted out, causing his eyebrows to rise up and Kate to spin around to face him. "No Gina isn't still here Alexis," he paused again and looked up at Kate, he sighed before he spoke again, "It's Detective Beckett."

He grimaced at what she said next, "Alexis, Detective Beckett still doesn't have an apartment, remember?" he told her calmly, obviously refuting something Alexis had just said, "I did NOT sabotage a search for anything!" he suddenly exclaimed, "Alexis I don't think ... No honey I ... Fine! Are all Rodgers women this much trouble?" he asked grumpily, "Hang on," he said as he held the phone out to Kate. "She wants to speak to you."

Kate hesitantly took the phone and raised it to her ear. "Hi Alexis," she greeted.

"Hi Detective Beckett!" came the girls cheery reply, "Just want to check my Dad is behaving himself," she told her cheekily. Kate laughed and grinned at Castle who looked supremely uncomfortable.

"Yes Alexis, in fact he's spent most of the day since he got home writing," Kate reported as Castle leaned back in his chaired and crossed his arms across his chest as he sulked at their topic of conversation. This, of course, only caused Kate's grin to widen.

"That's awesome!" Alexis exclaimed, "You have to make sure he finishes that book," Alexis told her. Kate hesitated, the grin fading slightly.

"I'm not sure I can make your Father do anything Alexis."

"Oh trust me," came the amused reply, "I have a feeling he would do anything you ask," she said knowingly before continuing on, "Oh I have to go, our class is about to start, tell Dad I love him, bye Detective Beckett!"

Kate barely had chance to say her own goodbye before the phone went dead. She passed Rick his phone back. "She had to go and told me to tell you that she loves you," Kate reported. She hesitated about asking what she wanted to ask but gained her courage and forged on before she lost it again. "Why does Alexis think you'll do anything I ask?"

A.N. Ok slightly evil cliff hanger there, sorry about that :) please review, thanks Nicki


	4. Chapter 4

A.N. Ok so I really am awful with how long this chapter took to finish and post but I have been working on my next story too which I should hopefully have the first two or maybe three chapters posted in the next few days, but anyways here's the final chapter (at least I think it ends well here lol) enjoy!

Chapter Four

Castle blinked as he looked at Beckett and opened his mouth to say something but no words would form. Kate looked nervous, like she was ready to bolt from the room given a seconds notice. It dawned on him that his daughter had just provided the perfect opportunity to tell his muse exactly how he felt about her. He stood up and walked slowly around his desk so he was standing right next to Kate. She glanced nervously towards the door but Castle reached down to take her hand in his and smiled softly at her.

"Because I would, because when you love someone you want to do anything you can to make them happy," he told her, looking her right in the eyes. Kate blinked as she took in his words and Castle grinned. "Look Kate, I understand that you have just broken up with Demming and I was _this _close to getting back with my ex but it's been you for a while now." He admitted.

"It that why you have that picture of me on your bedside?" Kate blurted out before she could think about what she was saying. She turned bright red as she saw the confusion and then realisation dawn on his face only to be replaced by a soft smile.

"That picture shows me the real Kate Beckett," he told her, showing through his words that he wasn't angry and then his tone turned teasing, "I wish I'd known you snoop though, I'd have left you alone here much sooner." He winked. Despite herself Kate laughed and leaned forward to kiss him, surprising herself and Castle but the minute their lips met it was like a switch had been flipped. They were no longer Beckett and Castle, the cop and the writer who happened to be thrown into working together whilst she tolerated him and he did his best to test her patience. They were just Kate and Rick and they fell in a jumble of limbs onto his sofa, kissing frantically like teenagers. Kate started tugging at his t-shirt and just as they got it over his head and dropped it to the floor, Kate's cell phone started ringing from her pocket.

"Ignore it," Castle mumbled as he shifted to kiss the side of her neck.

"You know I can't Castle ..." Kate groaned as she shifted to reach for the offending item.

"But you're off duty for the weekend," he whined as he leaned up to look her in the eye. For a second, she hesitated and then leaned forward to kiss him softly.

"We will pick this up later," she winked, "I promise." As she answered her phone she caught the grin on Castle's face and couldn't help the smile in her voice as Esposito told her Karpowski was ill and a body had dropped. She told him she'd be there in half an hour and hung up before she heard his response. "I'm going to grab a quick shower and then head out." She told Castle as they both stood up and she handed him his shirt. "You should get back to writing." She smiled.

"Oh can't I come and see the cri ..." he started with a little pout.

"Nope," Kate told him firmly, "I told Alexis I would make you finish that book."

"But ..." he started again.

"No but's Castle," she then threw him a grin before saying, "It would make me happy ..."

"No fair using that against me!" he exclaimed and pulled his t-shirt over his head. Kate laughed and kissed him again, when she pulled away he linked his arms around her waist and kept her close, "Ok if I finish a few more chapters by the end of the week, will you consider staying here instead of getting a new place?" he asked. Kate's smiled vanished as she looked at him.

"You're serious?" she asked.

"Deadly," he nodded and at the look on his face he continued quickly, "I mean at least for the time being ... until the end of the summer when Alexis gets back and if you still want your own place then, I'll even help you decorate but I like having you here and I know this is new but I don't want you to leave." He told her, tightening his hold on her. She looked at him closely, trying to make her mind up. Moving in with him permanently seemed like such a huge step; after all they hadn't even had the talk yet. Something told her they didn't need to but it did seem really sudden. On the other hand, she had known him for two years and most of that had been a flirtation. What Kate had always tried to avoid was becoming dependant on anyone, she liked her independent lifestyle and didn't want that to change but as she looked up at the pleading eyes of Richard Castle she found she could picture herself leaning on him. She did have to think it through though.

"Tell you what," she smiled as she looped her arms around his neck, "You _finish_ the book by the end of the month and I promise to talk to you about it." She bargained.

He looked thoughtful for a second and then said, "How about you give me three weeks to finish the book, that's six more days."

Kate nodded, "Ok, I'll give you that," she grinned and kissed him again before finding her way out from his embrace and jogged out of his office and up the stairs to her room for a quick shower. She couldn't help the smile that stayed on her face all through her two minute shower and then getting changed into her appropriate work clothes. She checked herself in the mirror as she picked her gun and badge up from her dressing table and walked back downstairs. She heard the giveaway _tap tap tap_ coming from Castle's office as she stepped into the open plan living room so she walked over and poked her head around the corner of the bookcases. "I'm going now," she told him and smiled as he looked up from his laptop and gave her a wide grin.

"Ok, I'll make dinner so try not to stay at the precinct 'til gone midnight," he told her, "Because I have no problems with coming down there to pry you from the case for something to eat."

"You'll do no such thing," Kate told him, "Stay here and keep writing, three weeks will pass before you know it!" she threw over her shoulder as she started walking towards the door.

"You just want to read the book before I send it to Gina!" he called after her and she laughed as she walked out of the front door and started making her way to another New York crime scene, but for the first time she knew you wouldn't be staying late. As she stepped into the elevator this thought caused the smile to temporarily fade but then it came back in full force as she remembered the pictures in Castle's room.

They told her all she needed to know.

A.N. so there we have it, please review guys, they really do make writers feel happy :)


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